


A New Husband

by hellsteeth



Series: the x-files romcom cinematic universe [2]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Christmas Eve, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28278969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellsteeth/pseuds/hellsteeth
Summary: Two years after making her first call to Dr. Marcia Fieldstone, Emily helps Mulder ask Dana an important question.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Series: the x-files romcom cinematic universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071536
Comments: 8
Kudos: 69





	A New Husband

**Georgetown, DC, Christmas Eve, 1994**

Dana Scully squints into a wave of heat as she assesses her turkey through a crack in the oven door. Luckily, the bird seems to respect her meal prep spreadsheet as much as she does and is cooking right on schedule. Across the kitchen, Emily carefully arranges rolls on a baking sheet and hums along to the Christmas station that Mulder had turned on before ducking into the shower.

“All of these songs talk about sleigh bells, but I never hear any in real life.” Emily observes while changing her mind about the pattern of the rolls and repositioning them.

Dana shrugs and straightens her back. “Well, these songs are all pretty old. They probably had actual sleighs back when they were written.”

“Older than _you_?” Emily teases.

Dana rolls her eyes and takes the tray from her daughter before she can change her mind about the rolls for a fourth time. “Yes, even older than me.” She sticks her tongue out, making the girl giggle.

“What’s older than you?” Mulder’s voice calls from down the hallway. He appears in the kitchen in an undershirt and jeans, still toweling off his hair.

“Not much, according to Emily. The wheel, fire, agriculture, maybe Christianity. That’s about it.” Dana jokes and turns around to face him. She wipes her hands on her apron and leans against the kitchen counter. “When are you planning on leaving?”

Mulder shrugs and bends down to kiss her chastely. Across the kitchen, Emily sneaks a marshmallow from the top of the sweet potato casserole and smiles smugly to herself, feeling solely responsible for how happy they both look.

“As soon as I finish getting ready, so probably in the next ten minutes or so.”

“I still don’t understand why you want to be at the airport at six when my mother’s flight isn’t supposed to arrive until seven-thirty.”

Mulder swallows nervously and casts a sidelong glance at the smaller Scully, who looks between the clock and the door nervously. “Well, you know how it is with holiday traffic in the city,” He slings his towel over his shoulder and turns toward the master bedroom. “Plus, Emily can keep me company while I wait, right Em?”

Emily nods enthusiastically. At ten years old, she’s much more skilled at controlling her face, and luckily her mother is too entranced in her own spreadsheet to notice the way she fidgets impatiently.

Mulder emerges fifteen minutes later, freshly shaven and smelling pleasantly of cologne. He kisses Dana softly and gives her a tight hug before turning to leave. While she’s distracted by his embrace, Emily scurries over to the radio and quietly changes the station.

\--

Lost in the frenzy of preparing a Christmas dinner on a tight schedule of her own making, it takes Dana an embarrassingly long time to realize that the radio is no longer playing Christmas classics. She is about to investigate when she hears a familiar voice, accompanied by a cheerful opening jingle. Oh, what the hell. She can listen to this program for old time’s sake while chopping potatoes.

_Welcome to “You and Your Emotions”. I’m Dr. Marcia Fieldstone, broadcasting live across America from the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago. Tonight, I’ve been told that we have an old friend joining us. Care to introduce yourself?_

“Hi, my name is Emily!”

Dana narrowly avoids slicing the tip of her finger off as she accidentally embeds her knife in the wooden cutting board.

_Welcome back, Emily. For those of our listeners who aren’t familiar with you, could you explain how you came to our program originally?_

“Sure! Two years ago I called you because my Christmas wish was for my mom to find a new husband. And everyone called her ‘Wide Awake in Washington’ and we got lots of letters in the mail. Some of them were weird but some of them were really nice.”

Dr. Fieldstone chuckles and even Dana can’t suppress the small smile on her lips at the memories of the months following that Christmas Eve despite her shock at hearing Emily’s voice on the radio again. She sets the knife down and stares at the small device as if it might offer up some answers on its own. No such luck.

_Why have you called us again, Emily?_

“The same reason,” Emily states straightforwardly. Dana raises her eyebrows and carries the radio over to the couch. The mashed potatoes can wait. “Except now I have someone else to help me convince her.”

_And who would that be?_

There is shuffling from Emily’s end followed by some unclear whispering. Then, Mulder’s voice fills the living room.

“Hi, my name is Fox Mulder. And I really have to thank you, Dr. Fieldstone.”

Dana’s eyebrows make an escape attempt toward the ceiling. What the hell is Mulder doing on the radio? What is going on?

_Dr. Marcia, please. What do you mean by that, Fox?_

“Mulder, please.” His tone echoes hers and Scully laughs aloud, calmed by the sound of his voice. She stills feels as if the floor has disappeared from under her, but it’s nice to be on the listening side of this program for once. “I would never have met Wide Awake in Washington-Dana-and her daughter if not for your program. We’ve been together for almost two years now and I feel like my life has finally started since they’ve entered it.” 

Dana blinks, eyelashes fluttering and a tear sliding down her cheek at his words. Not only is she touched, but she knows exactly what he means. Navigating the months after Ethan’s death had been so hard, she’d been fighting through a miserable, monotonous fog that Mulder had helped clear once they’d met. From what she knows of his past relationship, they’d been extremely fortunate to find each other when they did.

Dr. Marcia, of course, responds to Mulder’s revelation with her trademark patronizing tone tinged by a hint of a pop psychologist’s intrigue.

_That’s wonderful, Mr. Mulder. I’m sure Dana would be so happy to hear that._

Mulder laughs nervously. “I hope so, and I hope she's not too mortified that I'm saying all of this on the radio.”

Dana snorts into the silence of her apartment and shakes her head, heart growing impossibly fonder for this man and the depth of his thoughtfulness. How could she be upset with him?

Dr. Marcia laughs with him. _Well, I certainly hope so as well. So just to catch our listeners up, Emily called us because she wants her mother to find a new husband and has brought you along to help. Can you tell us all why?_

Mulder clears his throat nervously before taking a deep breath. When he speaks, his voice is clear and confident. It reminds her of the first time they’d had a serious discussion about their intentions or when he’d told her he loved her. “Because I am going to ask Dana to marry me tonight. Right now, actually, if she’s listening. I hope she is.”

A wave of emotion knocks into Dana like the salty spray of the sea, causing her heart rate to pick up and her cheeks to grow warm. She blinks rapidly in an attempt to banish the shocked tears in her eyes. She barely hears Dr. Marcia’s very professional gushing over this declaration, distracted by a cacophony of semi-coherent thoughts bouncing around the confines of her mind.

This proposal isn’t a complete surprise. Both Mulder and Dana had discussed their long term intentions a few weeks ago, desires for marriage and his adoption of Emily and possibly, maybe, more children whispered hopefully into the sheets of their bed after a long day. Still, Fox Mulder is the last person she’d expect to go through with such a public proposal. Dana thinks of Emily and the way that she could hear the smile scrunching the girl’s soft cheeks even over the radio as she declared that her mother needed a new husband for the second time. Perhaps Mulder had had help devising this plan.

These considerations whizz through Dana’s consciousness rapidly, giving her insufficient time to really consider any of the details of this proposal. All she can really know for certain right now is that Mulder has just asked her to marry him, albeit indirectly, and that she already knows her answer.

A knock at the door pulls Dana from this cloud of thoughts and she rises from the couch to answer it.

The front door swings open with an eager tug, revealing Emily and her mother smiling at her excitedly from behind a pile of holiday luggage. When she looks down, Dana sees Mulder knelt on one knee, holding his cell phone to his ear with one hand and tightly clutching a small black box with the other. 

“Thanks Dr. Marcia, I think I can take it from here.” Mulder says, hanging up despite protests from the other end and placing his phone in his pocket. Dana stares at him, open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Emily’s eyes mirror her mother’s as she watches the scene from a few feet away, crossing her fingers tightly in the pockets of her puffy coat.

“Say something, Dana, please.” Mulder says nervously, reaching out for one of her hands. She gives him both, holding his large hand in her two small ones and rubbing her thumbs over the soft skin of his palm. At the desperate, hopeful look on his face, Dana breaks into a tearful grin, nodding enthusiastically.

“Yes, of course I’ll marry you, Mulder. Of course I will.” She doesn’t even get a look at the ring, pulling him up to her and embracing him tightly. Mulder lets himself be pulled, relieved and ecstatic and a bit weepy. He holds Dana to his chest before bending down to kiss her soundly.

\--

After reading a tuckered out and self-congratulatory Emily a bedtime story and setting up the guest room for Maggie, Dana and Mulder sit on the couch, warming themselves on the last of the Christmas Eve fire. Her body is tucked into his, her back to his chest, and his arms wrap around her front while she examines the ring on her finger.

“How does _Dr. and Mr. Scully_ sound?” She asks lazily, tipsy on happiness and Mulder’s body heat.

Mulder hums in appreciation and kisses the top of her head. “I like the sound of that. And it could be _Dr. and Agent Scully_ for more formal occasions. I don't want people to think that I’m just a trophy husband, after all.”

Dana nods and giggles, “Quite the trophy though,” She twists back for a moment to kiss his jaw. “You do realize that we’re about to receive an onslaught of letters from people who listened to that program tonight, right?”

Mulder shrugs easily. “As long as you don’t find a _new_ new husband in any of them, I don’t think it’ll be an issue.” Dana wiggles around in his lap until she’s facing him. The light of the fire illuminates the joy in her eyes and the pink of her lips. He leans forward to taste them before cupping her jaw and fondly brushing his thumb along her cheekbone. Dana is quiet for a moment, thinking about her next words.

“You know Mulder, when Emily and I first moved here, I was absolutely convinced that I was never going to find the type of happiness I used to have again. And I resigned myself to that, thinking that I could be content with my job and with being a mother by myself. I think I could have soldiered on if I had to, but,” She shakes her head. “I had no idea how happy I could be again until we met.” Her voice becomes thick and Mulder gives her a minute, rubbing her back. “I love you, Mulder.”

“I love you too, Dana.”

They drift off slowly, entangled on the couch. Eventually, Mulder wakes and carries Dana to bed, depositing her on the duvet gently before pulling out gifts from “Santa” to Emily from their hiding spot and positioning them under the tree. He returns to bed, sliding in carefully next to his fiancee. She latches onto him in a somnambulistic search for heat and snuffles into his shoulder. Mulder is lulled back to sleep by the sound of her breathing, thinking that this may be the best Christmas Eve he’s ever had.

The next morning, they are awoken by Emily’s excited shuffle into the living room. As she appraises the result of Santa’s visit, Dana and Mulder yawn and stretch, both feeling as if the gifts they’d wrapped for one another are unnecessary. They’d already given each other the perfect gift in the form of their love for one another.


End file.
